I like pro wrestling, and I make no attempt to hide it. I’ve attended WWE television tapings and house shows. I’ve seen a WCW Clash of the Champions. An ECW TV taping. Multiple local events involving the independent promotions here in East Tennessee. I took a vacation a few years ago just to attend a triple-header of Ring Of Honor events in two different cities during WrestleMania weekend. Earlier this year, to celebrate my emancipation from newspapers, I went to Atlanta with my dad, uncle and several buddies to watch three wrestling events in as many days, and attend the WWE Hall of Fame.
Each of those live events had its high points, and its low points. What I saw Saturday night beat them all.
CHIKARA Pro made its debut in Tennessee on Oct. 8, coming to my hometown of Kingsport to play the Civic Auditorium. The seven matches that transpired didn’t just comprise the best card I’ve ever seen in my hometown. It also was the most entertaining and engaging live night of professional wrestling I’ve ever experienced in more than 20 years as a fan.
I’ve seen CHIKARA on DVD a few times, but watching Mike Quackenbush and company do their thing live is a completely different experience. The end product isn’t just a marriage of wrestling and comic books, but the wrestling itself is a jambalaya of styles from around the globe, merging lucha libre, puroresu, and American principles and wrapping that product with a slew of colorful costumes and masks.
The product isn’t just entertaining and versatile, but it’s also family friendly. Those who say the recent dropoff in business and quality in WWE is caused by that company’s recent shift to a PG product could take a lesson from CHIKARA. Then again, so could the WWE staff, as CHIKARA put on a seven-match card of quality wrestling that was family friendly and—shockingly—did not insult the intelligence of the audience.
It certainly helped that the crowd was very much “in on the joke” for this event. Some of CHIKARA’s diehards made the long trip to East Tennessee from far-flung locations like Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York. Drawing some of the promotion’s most dedicated fans definitely contributed to what was reported as a four-figure advance in ticket sales, and a crowd of several hundred.
Here’s a match-by-match look at the event, with my thoughts.
Chase Owens vs. Archibald Peck
Peck is a recent addition to the CHIKARA roster, and plays the part of an evil drum major. Yes, you read that correctly. He’s accompanied to the ring by a majorette, Veronica, and recently added a “mascot” to his band—Colt Cabunny (pictured as part of our photo gallery). Might the return of this floppy-eared fighter be a harbinger to regular appearances in CHIKARA by Colt Cabana? The former NWA World Champ and CM Punk’s longtime running buddy recently disappeared from the ROH roster, and his combination of comedic timing and mat wrestling would make him a natural fit in CHIKARA.
Peck was taking on Owens, one of the standouts from NWA Smoky Mountain, the local NWA territory. Even though Owens was the de facto good guy, the majority of the crowd seemed to be on Peck’s side by the end of the match.
The bottom rope was an early casualty—breaking as Peck was delivering some stomps to Owens in the corner. What appeared to be a straight comedy opener turned into a pretty hard-hitting match. At 12 minutes, this one went on a little long in this reviewer’s opinion before Peck got the duke, conking Owens with Veronica’s baton while Colt Cabunny distracted the referee.
Ophidian vs. Hallowicked
This match was held as part of CHIKARA’s 12 Large Summit, an ongoing round-robin tournament that has been taking place for most of the year to determine the promotion’s first major singles champion, which will be decided at CHIKARA’s iPPV and 2011 season finale, “High Noon”, next month.
Both Hallowicked and Ophidian were out of the running to advance to the 12 Large finals, so this Block A match was just for pride. Ophidian took his partner Amasis’ spot in the tournament after Amasis was seriously injured in a car wreck. He’s more known for their work as a team in The Osirian Portal, whose hypnotic dance sequence became a Youtube sensation earlier this year. Hallowicked has been a mainstay in CHIKARA since the early days of the promotion’s existence.
The absence of the bottom rope seemed to throw off Ophidian, who is small of stature. Still, he showcased his athleticism and flexibility while focusing his work on the left arm of Hallowicked, who sold the injuries convincingly until his comeback near the end of the match. After getting beat down for much of the match, Hallowicked got the win after surprising Ophidian with a kick to the gut as he leaped off the top rope, then ensnaring him in La Majistral for the three count. Ophidian confronted the referee after the match, teasing a possible turn to the dark side and adding some extra drama to the announced appearance of Amasis at the season finale.
FIST vs. Batiri
FIST are one of the main heel factions in CHIKARA, and members Chuck Taylor and Johnny Gargano recently won the Campeanatos de Parejas—CHIKARA’s tag belts and the major championship in the promotion. In this match, Taylor and Gargano teamed with Icarus—another longtime CHIKARA wrestler—against the Batiri, relative newcomers to the promotion and to wrestling in general.
There was quite a bit of comedy in this match, from Icarus trying to “exorcise” the demonic Batiri by sprinkling them with his water bottle and borrowing a few lines from The Exorcist, to a slew of can-you-top-this moments with each team trying to outcheat the other. Chuck Taylor added some extra humor to the proceedings with his girlish shrieking as the Batiri isolated him. FIST, unsurprisingly, got the win following a triple team of the smallest member of the Batiri.
Kotoge & Harada vs. The Colony
I never thought I’d see wrestlers from Osaka Pro in Kingsport, but here they were. Kotoge and Harada were on hand representing the promotion for this short mini-tour. Osaka Pro has a heavy comedic element to its product as well, so competitors from there typically fare well in CHIKARA.
There wasn’t much humor involved in this match, as the two teams combined on a hard-hitting, Japanese-style tag match featuring a slew of big moves, near-falls and brutal strikes too numerous to list here. Fire Ant got the win for the Colony with his Beach Break, and the two teams shook hands as the event went into intermission.
CHIKARA smartly kept the crowd engaged during the break, bringing Green Ant—the other member of the Colony—out to the ring to take pictures with the fans while the ring crew replaced the broken bottom rope. Several wrestlers on the card also came out to the merchandise tables to shill their stuff, while a few of the tecnicos made their way through the crowd to take pictures with fans. I didn’t see a single picture or autograph request refused all night, and there was a general atmosphere of mutual respect between the wrestlers and fans that’s largely absent from every other wrestling event I’ve been to.
Jigsaw vs. Ultramantis Black
The other 12 Large match on the card had championship implications. Ultramantis, a longtime CHIKARA rudo who ended up shifting to more of a fan-favorite role with the advent of the BDK stable, had a chance to make the championship finale a three-way match but had to beat Jigsaw to do it. Given the title implications, many fans were rooting for Ultramantis even though both wrestlers are currently on the tecnico side of the roster.
The story of this match played out quite similar to the Ophidian-Hallowicked bout, with one wrestler dominating. This time, Jigsaw played the bully role, generally pummeling Ultramantis but finding himself unable to put his fellow masked man down for the three count. Ultramantis used the ropes to escape several pinning or submission predicaments, and “Bottom Rope” quickly became a battle cry for the remainder of the evening.
Ultramantis regained the advantage and hit his Praying Mantis Bomb finisher, only to see Jigsaw roll to the floor after the impact. When Ultramantis rolled Jigsaw’s carcass back into the ring and went for the pin, Jigsaw ensnared his foe in a small package for the surprise win. An upset Ultramantis went to the back as the fans chanted his name, while ring announcer Gavin Loudspeaker confirmed that the result of the match clinched that Mike Quackenbush and Eddie Kingston had advanced to the finals of the tourney.
Eight Man Tag: BDK vs. Mike Quackenbush, Sugar Dunkerton, Green Ant & Eddie Kingston
This was the closest thing to WWE “sports entertainment” on the card, as the feud between the BDK and the rest of the CHIKARA roster has been the dominant storyline in the promotion since the beginning of 2010.
The BDK lost some of their star power with leader Claudio Castagnoli recently signing with WWE, but still are plenty formidable thanks to the presence of the gigantic Tursas. Tim Donst and Delirious provide plenty of muscle in their own right, and the entire group looks impressive and intimidating in person.
Poor Sugar took the brunt of the beating for his team, and played the “face in peril role” for the vast majority of the match. CHIKARA tag matches take place under lucha rules, meaning an exchange can be made by actually tagging your opponent or by rolling to the floor. At one point, Dunkerton tried to roll out only to have members of the BDK catch him as he slipped off the apron to prevent his feet from touching the floor. Very creative.
After plenty of cheating by the BDK and brawls in and around the ring for most of the 20-minute match, it got wild after rivals Green Ant and Tursas ended up in the ring together. Green Ant tried to trip up Tursas and send him into the middle rope—except that upon impact, Tursas broke the middle rope and went spilling to the floor. (Our second rope-related casualty of the night…)
Green Ant followed that with a big dive, but the BDK got the duke after Kingston inadvertently backfisted his partner Quackenbush and got pinned by Donst. The result is sure to add some extra sizzle to the first-time-ever singles match between two of the more experienced wrestlers on the CHIKARA roster.
Sara Del Rey vs. Kana
Women’s matches typically are relegated to a sideshow midcard attraction at most American shows. Instead, this CHIKARA card was headlined by a women’s bout that I dare say was unlike any other ever put on in my region of Tennessee.
Del Rey and Kana put on a clinic of strong-style wrestling, mixing brutal strikes with some very impressive submission work in a grueling affair that showcased the athleticism and toughness of both competitors. The forearm exchange might have had a little more drama if every other match that preceded it had not featured a similar exchange of strikes at some point. Del Rey got the win with a piledriver, avenging a loss to her former roommate in Japan at a recent SHIMMER taping.
After the event, almost the entire roster came out to mingle with fans—whether it was a double line of fan favorites at the door thanking fans on their way out, or guys like Ultramantis Black and FIST working the merchandise tables. Del Rey and Kana also went straight for the merch tables after their match.
I’m told the event performed better than expected, economically speaking, so hopefully CHIKARA will be returning to this corner of the Volunteer State soon.
This show, like all CHIKARA events, will be released on DVD. A purchase is highly recommended.